"The Unfairest of Them All" is the second book in the Ever After High series by the author Shannon Hale. Another series is to be released by Suzanne Selfors. This is the sequel to "The Storybook of Legends".

Contents

Summary

A Very Evil Prologue

The Evil Queen is aggravated about how the Grimm brothers have stuffed her into a cramped black cell glass (a magical mirror) and is angry that they couldn't even put much effort into making a more elaborate prison for her. She is trying to use magic although failing after numerous tries due to spell repellent found within, when she feels a burst of purple lightening ripple through her cell. After weakening the cell glass with another spell, she is able to create a looking glass to which she looks through all Ever After which takes her to the courtyard of Ever After High on Legacy Day. The Evil Queen shows disinterest and although she's happy her daughter is following in her footsteps, she wishes that Legacy Day was about making one's own choice otherwise its just another way of being under Grimm's control. Then she sees Raven rip her page out of the Storybook of Legends and immediately feels proud of her repentance. The Evil Queen starts smiling slowly and then begins to laugh.

Chapter 1

A Spoonful of Porridge

The morning starts of with Apple White feeling quite dejected over what happened during Legacy Day. She blames Raven for the whole event and is angry that she acted so selfishly without any consideration for others. While in the middle of this though, there is a loud crash which is caused by Madeline Hatter who jumped through the window in order to get to their rooms so as to take Apple and Raven to breakfast. On arrival, they see their friends set apart in two groups on two separate sides of the castleteria - a few smeared in porridge - on the verge of a food fight, with Cedar Wood standing with her tray of food in the middle undecided of where to sit - either with the Royals (because she wants her destiny to become a real girl) or with the Rebels (as she does not want her friends to suffer in destinies they don't want).

Apple tries to play the peace maker by trying to calm down the Royals while insinuating that the Rebels are rallying behind Raven because they're her friends and that Raven simply made a mistake which sets of Raven, stating that her choice was not a mistake which is in turn, responded with harsh comments from Daring Charming, Briar Beauty, Duchess Swan and Blondie Lockes, but is supported by Dexter Charming whom is immediately shut down by his older brother. In the end a spoonful of porridge which is thrown by Sparrow Hood hits Apple on the cheek. This immediately starts up the food fight in full scale with Hunter ending up accidentally hitting Ashlynn Ella, which sends her off crying and Hunter running after her while Madeline Hatter completely enjoys the activity as food fights are a necessity in Wonderland when hosting luncheons or dinner parties.

Raven and Apple take cover behind a large pot of nine-day-old beans (or so they say), with Raven completely smeared in food and Apple with the single smudge of porridge on her cheek which is immediately eaten off by a bird. Apple doubts herself and her abilities now that her Happily Ever After may no longer come true and blames herself for not being able to convince Raven to sign the book although she promised Headmaster Grimm. The food fight is ended with dark sorcery by Baba Yaga whom immediately sends everyone to detention by turning the wasted food into food goblins in order to coral the students to the detention room, leaving Apple quite panicked as she has never been in detention before.

Chapter 2

In the Service of Destiny

Raven boringly sits in detention, with the spare time she has to think of her destiny. After a while, Professor Momma Bear lets them off, however Milton suspiciously asks the students to join him in the Chamitorium. As Milton starts off his speech, Apple is extremely struck with disbelief as he reveals devastating information. Milton ignores all questions asked, however he considers to give the students a chance for the Yester Day app activities to commence. Humphrey assists Apple with downloading that, leaving Raven puzzled as to entrust someone with her password. Raven takes a guess, leaving Apple worried of a risk of hacking. She converts it to a Lulla-binary notation of the word. After the Charmitorium session was over, Ashlynn nabs Raven into a broom closet and asks her for advice, with Hunter and Cerise asking her similar questions earlier. Later outside, Madeline plans to visit Wonderland however is bound by the rules. Raven is still curious about Cerise's story and why she's been avoiding them lately. She checks the Yester Day app for details, however she receives a message instead, reminding her about the headmaster. Raven is somewhat guilty of her actions on Legacy Day, anxious of her time at this school. Keeping that message in mind, she paces around the corridors viewing messages of iconic fairytale characters to Milton. The headmaster reveals to Raven why he keeps her at the school is because of her story. Milton is definite that Raven will reconsider her rebellious ideas when the time comes. Due to the notification of Raven's curiosity in the Yester Day app, Milton is aware that she wishes to visit Red Riding Hood. However, he tasks her to visit someone evil as well; Candy Witch, the mother of Ginger Witch.

At the castleteria, Raven acknowledges Cerise's phone number and sends her a hext about the Yester Day visit. While attending Professor Nimble's class, Raven and Cerise hext each other. Cerise slumps in her chair after knowing Raven is to visit her mother. Raven is always open for Cerise to join her, however is still curious why she never wanted to visit them in the first place. Raven soon realizes that Professor Badwolf is her father.

Chapter 3

Maddie Chats with the Narrator

Madeline casually asks the Narrator of their in-depth observations of when Madeline's around Apple or Raven more. Before they can finish, she cuts to a question after the other, mentioning how she'd go to Neverland due to Wonderland's closure. She babbles on about Cerise's dad being Mr. Badwolf, but she stops them there.

Chapter 4

Just Be Happy

Apple visits Old King Cole for Yester Day, an old acquaintance of her mother. Speculating that he isn't the best choice for her, she thanks him for his kind attitude and selects another fairytale. That being said, Apple tumbles on the other side of Cole Castle's well to Buff Castle's. As soon as she enters the grand hall of the Castle, she meets Emperor and Empress Buff. The two welcome her with open arms as she expresses her worry and grief about Legacy Day, and recent issues that have occured. The empress leads Apple outside, where a huge argument between two farmers has erupted. The empress orders Apple to stop it, which she does so boldly. Still, not wanting to set out a bad impression of herself, she softens up. Due to that, the argument springs back into life, with the empress stepping in and taking charge. Right as Apple reflects on what went wrong, she finds Holly O'Hair, who is completely honored to meet her there. Apple explains to Holly about her recent encounter with two arguing farmers, but Holly is utterly speechless of what to say. Apple drops the conversation and proceeds back to school.

Chapter 5

Torches and Pitchforks

Cerise informs Raven that her mother might not be as open to others as she is to her, as her village is undergoing a serious split between the Wolfs and the Hoods. Still, the two easily go along the path to her village, something Cerise will converse with Raven later. Raven enters Cerise's residence, finding Red Riding Hood. The three talk more about Red initially coming across the Big Bad Wolf, whom she found comedic rather than frightening. After a while, they hear loud bickering coming from outside. Hoods and Wolfs argue about a staged act by a Wolf dressed as a sheep. Raven decides to stop the argument from escalating, but the villagers recognize her as the daughter of the Evil Queen. They propose to dunk her, setting Cerise off. Being pushed too far, Cerise proudly declares her parents, Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, both astonishing and alarming the villagers.

Chapter 6

Maddie Catches Up with the Narrator

Madeline complains to the Narrator of how poorly she's been treated in Neverland, having to have arrived to school earlier than everyone else. Out of boredom, Madeline questions the Narrator of a few upcoming spoilers, such as something terrible happening to a specific student.

Chapter 7

A Smile and a Friend

Apple scrolls through her remaining locations for a Yester Day interview. Despite having to interviewed so many successful fairytale parents only, she decides to interview her mother. Apple opens up to her mother, since the security of her story was recently ruptured. Still, Snow White is optimistic and certain that everyone has good inside of them, including Raven. Instead of giving Apple solid advice, Apple is unaware how holding a smile in whatever case will help anything. Apple soon meets with Briar, who reveals to her that she's interviewed lots of fairytale characters who have fallen into a sleep at least once in their story, however that didn't go as planned. Meanwhile, Apple faces her own personal crises, explaining to Briar of her mother's peculiar advice given. With no other plans on how to make her BFFA any happier, Briar and Apple do some bungee jumping.

Chapter 8

Time to Take Off the Hood

The Wolfs and Hoods chant in unison to banish Cerise from the village. Cerise's grandmother, or The Grandma, objects to this and instead, the village will host a Basket Run trial. There's been a slight change in rules - Cerise is allowed to compete in the trial. As soon as the trial commences, Cerise is strained by the number of cramped Hoods ahead of her. As the remaining Hoods are disqualified and lose their baskets to the Wolfs, Cerise is being pursued by Horribus Wolf. Luckily, Cerise breaks the finish vine in two before the Wolfs can catch up to her, rattling with a total amount of ten baskets. However, a change has taken place; Cerise is both a Hood and a Wolf, meaning that she can choose her own fate. With only 15 minutes left for Raven to visit Candy Witch, she darts out, knowing that Cerise's secret will still be safe among Hood Hollow.

Raven makes her way over to Candy Witch's house, the old lady bearing a pleasant attitude was surely not going to harm Raven in such a short amount of time. Ultimately, Candy Witch's advice seemed to be very helpful.

Chapter 9

A Children's Treasury of Fairytale Heirlooms

Apple attempts to persuade Raven once again, but Raven still stands firm on the other side of the conflict. Raven owns up to Apple about her mother's continued existence in mirror prison, the only one in Raven's mind to deal with such unexpected problems. As their thoughts get interrupted by Cerise, who comes barging in their dorm room, they follow her down to the Muse-eum where they hear shouts. Sparrow Hood and his Merry Men stir up trouble near by the vault of the heirlooms of previous fairytale legends, with Kitty Cheshire aiding the guys and causing even more of a mess. A clueless Apple partially blames this on Raven, but is also distracted by the nearby quarreling between the Royals and Rebels. Apple believes herself in the middle of this, believing herself powerless against this.

Chapter 10

Maddie Gabs with the Narrator

Madeline chats with the Narrator once more. She is curious about the racket down in the Treasury, oblivious that the Royals and Rebels are arguing downstairs. The Narrator babbles on about a previous class they took, but Madeline dashes out to join in on the "party" down in the Treasury.

Chapter 11

The Uni Cairn

Meanwhile, in the Treasury, the Rebels and Royals cause a ruckus with their nonsensical bickering, Raven and Apple both fight over who should be the one to handle this situation. Madeline comes running down to join in the "party", disappearing in the crowd. Milton hears the loud noise from the Treasury and proceeds inside while everyone empties the room in a flash. Raven stays behind, overhearing and seeing Madeline's obvious hiding spot. Madeline hides behind an array of objects, however the Uni Cairn, an extremely small trinket and secret prison for the Jabberwock, drops out of her pocket, slightly cracking little by little. A jabberwock springs out of it, escaping by making a gaping hole in the wall.

Chapter 12

Banished

A strange thing to do at Ever After High is to host assemblies on weekends, but this matter is exceptionally an urgent one to discuss. At the assembly, Milton calls Madeline out in front of everyone, proposing to banish her from Ever After and expel her from the school, due to the previous night's terrible and unfortunate incident. Raven and Apple both object to this because the argument lacks a fair trial, however Milton claims that such objections are not appreciated until there is fair evidence. Apple and Raven go to the library and find out more about Irrefutable Evidence, a spell cast. Still, the spell is written in Cursed Gibberish, a language only a level 38 sorceress can comprehend. Raven is incapable of doing so, however she throws in a few of the sorceresses she knows - Baba Yaga, and also throwing in her mother. Apple is against Raven's idea, requesting her to ask the help of someone else, however no one is able, leaving the Evil Queen to be the only choice.

Chapter 13

Such Skullduggery as This

Apple enlists the help of Humphrey Dumpty, a student who is perfect for the job of hacking the MirrorNet's security system, meaning that Apple and Raven have a chance of talking with the Evil Queen. Instead of completely interfering, changing or overriding it, Humphrey decides to go through without actually breaking the security locks. Humphrey defeat mirror daemons by completing a whole rap for them to have access to the Evil Queen's mirror by her prison. As soon as the Evil Queen and the girls MirrorChat, they skip to the point of the Cursed Gibberish language deciphering, however the Evil Queen already foresees what they're up to. She is unable to reveal the ingredients because of a MirrorNet filter encryption. Raven advocates for her mother to give the girls riddles instead.

Chapter 14

Wisp Whispering

The first riddle is being solved by Apple. Initially, she and Raven believe that a riddle-solver would be of great help to them, Madeline being their first priority. Raven warns Apple of a voice Madeline constantly hears - as the "Narrator" can instantly narrate what the two are thinking. Before they enter the Mad Hatter's to-be-closed Tea Shoppe, they clear their minds and proceed inside. Throughout that time, Apple and Raven struggle to grab ahold of their thoughts properly, so they exit the shop, upsetting Madeline. They decide to split the number of riddles amongst themselves so the job would hopefully be done more efficiently as the day is up. As Apple ventures off to the Enchanted Forest, along with the assistance of Gala, she encounters a will o' the wisps, a common resident originating from a realm named Faerie. Apple asks for their attention, but it is likely that they do not understand a word she's saying. She tasks Gala to find Ashlynn Ella, who has no problem whatsoever when conversing with creatures. After discussing about a local game between the wisps, Ashlynn hands Apple a spare wisp, with one riddle complete.

Chapter 15

Maddie Chats with the Narrator

Madeline is upset of how she and her father must pack up to Neverland. Though she is still curious of why Raven acts strange around her, but the Narrator has their job of keeping secrets nonetheless.

Chapter 16

Blessed Beast of Terror

The second riddle is being solved by Raven, who wanders aimlessly around Book End, hoping to find a clue. Eventually, her wandering leads her to a kid park where she finds the object she is searching for all along - a dragon's skull. It is adhered in place, but Raven is certain that she will somehow move it. She bumps into Cedar Wood and Azure, daughter of Little Boy Blue. Because of her creativity, Raven submits to Cedar, telling her that blurting out possibilities of ways to move the giant dragon skull playset may be of use. At that moment, Cedar follows Raven's idea and speaks out a useful suggestion of Nevermore taking advantage of her size to move (and resize) the playset. As soon as Nevermore lifts it up and shrinks down to her size, Raven directs Nevermore to place the skull in her room. In order for her to catch up, Raven catapults herself all the way back to Ever After High.

Chapter 17

Fairy Ball

Apple reads out the third riddle, briskly realizing that a piece of giant's hair is required for the spell. Apple stops by a giant beanstalk, slowly climbing it. As soon as she finds two giants allocated lower than she thought, a giant named Amy informs her that the beanstalk is currently closed due to a competition. As soon as she reaches the highest point of the beanstalk, she hears Briar, and Nathan's voice. As of his height, Nathan is forbidden to compete in the games. Briar spontaneously signs Apple up for a spot. The event Apple will be competing in is named Fairy Ball, but it is completely unrelated to ballroom dancing. The game's objective is to win the race by nonstop running on a ball, wheeling (or flying) it to the finish line by using the gossamer wings provided. As soon as it is their turn to kick off the wheel, Apple scans the ground for a safe place to land. As soon as Apple finds the Giant's midden heap, they take a huge drop and find themselves in the middle of the heap. The wheel pops due to the compression of their fall, Apple grabs a strand of hair from the garbage and slides her way down the pile back to Ever After High.

Chapter 18

The Opposite of Quiet

As Raven draws nearer to her dorm's wall by the force of her catapult, she slowly shifts herself airborne through the slit of her balcony's opened doors, crash-landing into Apple's bed, accidentally setting her One Reflection pillow on fire. As she examines the next riddle, she finds hints that the riddle is indicating Baba Yaga's hut that runs on chicken legs. Raven and Nevermore find it hiding nearby the Enchanted Forest. Nevermore gives out an attempt of chasing it because it's too quick for them. Raven plans to outsmart and follow it, though. The size of the Enchanted Forest's canopy is too big for Nevermore to fit. Raven sidles by a tree, but a nearby screech scares Raven as she topples down, softly landing on the Hut's nest, and centered in it, an egg. Raven is having a hard time lifting the egg, so she is dependent on Nevermore to call on Cerise Hood. As one of its natural reflexes, the Hut senses the egg's absence and pursues both Raven and Cerise. Right on time, Raven creates a levitation spell and starts a run back to the school.

Chapter 19

The Buzz of a Spell

Apple and Raven gather up the ingredients for their Irrefutable Evidence spell, but there are only two left. Coincidentally enough, the girls already brought the ingredients needed beforehand the Irrefutable Evidence spell already. Raven calls her mother via MirrorChat as her mother lectures Raven through the process of potion-brewing and spell casting, in order for the spell to fully work. Raven is cooped up in the dorm room, starting off with her first ingredient with her mother.

Chapter 20

Smile Like You Mean It

As Raven prepares her spell, Apple is having her own troubles. Apple wakes Blondie up to gather everyone in the Treasury and they urge them to reenact the moment they had before, but so far, it erupts into simple chaos and chatter. The Royals and Rebels are simply in no mood or spirit to reenact such a mess all over again, as they clearly need to be motivated. Apple prepares a kind speech for the crowd, following her mother's advice to smile, like she genuinely meant it. She encourages everyone to believe in themselves and work together for Madeline. As Apple plans out everyone's roles in fixing the Treasury, she tasks the Crumb cousins to fetch Milton and Madeline in exchange for candy.

Chapter 21

Irrefutable Evidence

Raven is having a hard time concentrating by her mother's solid criticism and nagging. Raven pleads on taking a break before proceeding on any further, but that causes her a little more pressure by her mother deeply questioning her alignment between good and evil. As soon as the tension lessens a little, Raven manages to do the job properly and rushes down to the Treasury right on time. Madeline politely, yet blankly greets Raven in spite of her previously mysterious actions, but her hands are bound, meaning that the banishment is soon to start. Raven slowly, yet with precision, starts off the spell. Everyone who was in that night glances at the dragon's skull, it whisking everyone back to the truth of the matter. At the end of it, Baba Yaga confirms its genuineness, proving Madeline Hatter innocent. Madeline is set free from her chains and Raven explains herself fully, apologizing to her. Raven and Apple soon remember the Evil Queen, still stuck in Raven's room. The girls run back up, but they find the Evil Queen casting an escape spell. Her spell hatches a baby cottage from the egg stolen from the Hut's nest. The hatchling is extremely tempted to rescue the Evil Queen from prison, however Apple and Raven's weight slowly drag it behind a bit, whilst its weight along with the girls' destroys their room. Raven provokes the mirror from ever being touched by the hatchling, but a distraught Apple lays in the rubble of her destroyed furniture.

Chapter 22

Maddie Pesters the Narrator

In gratitude of her release, Madeline is eager to reward Raven and Apple with a treat. The Narrator hints of the damaged room the baby cottage has destroyed.

Chapter 23

Happily Ever Afters

Like what Apple did, Madeline assembles a horde of friends and classmates to fix the girls' dorm room. Surprisingly, everyone is hopeful that teamwork is the key to an amazing friendship. The students all celebrate with a bash after the room is tidied up.

Epilogue

The Jabberwock finds the climate, environment and the world of Ever After a strange place to reside in before gaining its full strength back. It wishes to seek revenge on the people who imprisoned it, but as it curls into a deep sleep, it thanks Madeline Hatter for freeing it, considering this an act of friendship.

Blurb

Start a new chapter in this spellbinding Ever After High story by bestselling author Shannon Hale! Follow Raven Queen after she becomes the reluctant leader of the Rebels, those who believe in breaking free from destiny and writing their own story. This puts her at odds with her roomie Apple White, fairest of the halls and enchanting queen of the Royals, the students who want to follow in their fairytale parents' footsteps. But when one of the most wonderlandiful students at the school gets into trouble, the two must work together to ensure that everyone gets their happily forever after.

Secrets unfold, spells are cast, and the Royals and the Rebels reign supreme in this totally wicked follow-up to The Storybook of Legends!